Home Christian News John Crist’s Career Is Doing Well. Here’s Why Some People Are Worried...

John Crist’s Career Is Doing Well. Here’s Why Some People Are Worried About That

Survivors, Advocates Respond

Crist’s career has now picked back up. He released a comedy special on YouTube June 1 and is releasing a book in October 2022. He is also touring and hosts a podcast. However, there is no indication at present that John Crist has apologized to the women he victimized. In fact, they and others claim the opposite

“John manipulated /used for me over a year. & when I read what he did to many other women the hurt only magnified,” said Stone in her thread. “One of my greatest fears when all this happened was that he would disappear and then come back like nothing happened. That his apology was for appearances only.” Stone says that Crist only made his apology when the allegations went public, even though she and others confronted him prior to that. 

“What [he] said was vague and skirted around a lot of [what] others accused him of,” said Stone. “Can you really recover from and change dangerous and manipulative patterns that you lived for years in a matter of a few months? Is moving back into the spotlight really the best for your recovery?” She said she does not want to see Crist “penniless and rejected from society,” but thinks his current career decisions are foolish. She concluded, “Why risk him hurting even more women? Is it worth it? Is a few jokes and laughs worth his spiritual recovery? Again, please know that I’m not some angry, bitter [woman]. This just all seems SO unwise.”

Days after Stone posted her thread in July 2020, a woman who says she is one of the women named in the Charisma article posted on Instagram [Note: This post contains content some may find offensive.] that she “was a victim of John Crist’s predatory sexual, emotional and mental abuse and manipulation.” She explained, “I am speaking up because I do not want John to have power over me any longer. Never in my life has someone made me feel as small and worthless as John did. I never want another woman to feel the way he made me feel. It’s dehumanizing and cruel. I deserved better. We all did. I’m proud of how far I’ve come. I am worthy. I am enough.”

Christian author, speaker and podcaster Annie F. Downs came under fire from advocates recently for promoting Crist’s new comedy special. After taking down her post and offering a brief apology, Downs offered a longer apology and said she had read two books, including Diane Langberg’s “Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church,” and was “at the start of a really important journey.”

Yet others are questioning how Crist is framing his behavior and find his jokes about his sexual misconduct offensive, noting that the title of the video, “John Crist on Rehab and Getting Cancelled,” is focused on himself and not his victims. “How can anyone really claimed [sic] to have been ‘canceled’ when they have a new book, tour, and comedy special?” asked author Katelyn Beaty in response to a write-up on Crist from Kate Shelnutt in Christianity Today. “At this point, how can Crist advance the victim narrative with a straight face?”

​”The people who keep platforming Crist are those who buy tickets, view clips, and in October, will buy his books,” said writer Devi Abraham. “Evangelicals. I’m guessing majority white women. Crist knows we won’t quit him because he knows our capacity to forgive and forget a man’s abuse is…endless.” 

One Twitter user expressed frustration regarding a connection he perceives between Crist’s career being revitalized and how the American church often treats abusive pastors. He said, “When we’re ‘replatforming’ abusive *pastors*, why wouldn’t we replatform abusive comedians! Much lower bar for people I find funny than people I expect to guard my soul. (I don’t understand either and I’m mad).”

ChurchLeaders has reached out to John Crist for comment and will update this article in the event of a reply.